CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Coe College men's basketball team suffered its first American Rivers Conference defeat on Saturday afternoon, falling 74-64 to Simpson College at Kohawk Arena. The squads battled back-and-forth in the opening period but a late run from the visitors gave Simpson a five-point lead at the break. The Storm quickly extended the lead in the first few minutes of the second period, taking a double-digit lead with 11:57 to play. The Kohawks clawed back and got within five points of the lead with 5:14 to play but the Storm saw out the remaining minutes of the contest to hand Coe its first conference loss of the year. The result drops Coe to 8-2 overall and 2-1 in the American Rivers Conference while Simpson moves to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Jarad Kruse scored a team-high 19 points, shooting 8-of-15 from the floor and 2-of-5 from beyond while
Sam Auen joined him in double-figures, posting 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Ray Thrapp added eight points on offense for the Kohawks, chipping in with seven rebounds and one assists while
Cael Schmitt finished with a team-high five assists and four points.
John Steffen and
Jacob Robertson also had solid games for Coe, scoring five points each as Robertson added three boards and one steal.
SIMPSON 74 - COE 64
Game Facts
- The squads traded baskets to open the contest as a bucket from Jacob Robertson tied the score at eight with 15:31 left in the first half. Simpson finally grabbed control of the contest over the next four-plus minutes, ripping off a 14-4 run to jump ahead 22-12 before the midway point of the half. Coe answered right back, using an 11-2 spurt to cut Simpson's lead to 24-23 with 7:15 to play in the first period. The Storm momentarily stopped the run with a layup but the Kohawks scored the next seven points including a 3 from Sam Auen as he put the hosts in front 30-26.
- Simpson remained calm and quickly hit back-to-back 3s in the next 50 seconds of the contest, regaining a two-point lead with 4:45 left in the first. The teams then exchanged buckets for the final moments of the half but the Storm scored the final points of the period, hitting a 3 with just over a minute remaining to grab a 40-35 lead at the break.
- The lead for Simpson grew in the first half of the second period, using a 13-7 spurt to push its lead to 53-42 with 11:57 to play. During the stretch, the Storm shot 6-of-8 from the floor while the Kohawks were just 3-of-11 from the field. The Kohawks scored the game's next seven points to stay within touch of the Storm as Ray Thrapp scored a pair of buckets along the way as he made it 53-49 with 9:20 remaining.
- Simpson managed the lead over the next few minutes, outscoring Coe 7-4 thanks in-part to three points from forward Chris Hanz. The Kohaws clawed back, using a 5-2 run over the next minute of the game to make the score 62-58 but Deontei Johnson hit a clutch 3 on the ensuing possession to push the Storm lead back to seven with 3:45 to play. Andrew Curran converted on another bucket following an empty trip for Coe as he pushed Simpson's lead to nine points which proved to be a large enough gap as the visitors secured the victory.
Up next: Coe will break for a week and return to action on Saturday, December 11 in an American Rivers Conference contest at Central with tip-off scheduled for 4 PM.
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